Research of artist

Researching Beyonce
ByMary Thompson
Images of Beyonce


Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter
born September 4, 1981

American recording artist and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she performed in various singing and dancing competitions as a child, and rose to fame in the late 1990s as lead singer of R&Bgirl-group Destiny's Child. Managed by her father Mathew Knowles, the group became one of the world'sbest-selling girl groups of all time. Their hiatus saw the release of Beyoncé's debut album, Dangerously in Love (2003), which established her as a solo artist worldwide; it sold 11 million copies, earned five Grammy Awards and featured the Billboard number-one singles "Crazy in Love" and "Baby Boy".

Following the disbandment of Destiny's Child in 2005, she released her second solo album, B'Day (2006)

Her marriage to rapper Jay-Z and portrayal of Etta James in Cadillac Records (2008) influenced her third album, I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008), which saw the birth of her alter-ego Sasha Fierce and earned a record-setting six Grammy Awards in 2010, including Song of the Year for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)".

Her fifth studio album, Beyoncé (2013), was critically acclaimed and was distinguished from previous releases by its experimental production and exploration of darker themes.

Shotlist

Shot-list 

Below I have embedded a picture of the shot list we completed in class. We use a shot list to help us organise our shots into order and make the filming task more straight forward.

Evaluation (music video)

Evaluation

question 1

What way does your media product use develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

By leah Gathergood

http://leahgathergood.blogspot.co.uk

Question 2 

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?


By Leah Gathergood
http://leahgathergood.blogspot.co.uk









Question 3 
how did you use media technologies in the construction research, planning and evaluation stages?

By Leah Gathergood

Evaluation

Technology

Blogger - Blogger became an essential part of our work as it was what we used to present all our research and planning work.
Although we were new to blogger it didn't take longer to figure out how to use it. We learnt how to embed videos and upload images to blogger, this was sometimes challenging as the image would not always be placed where we wanted it. We overcame this by typing the text first and then putting then inserting the images after so it would not look messy.

Cameras - As we have been studying media for 3 years, we are used to using the cameras and tripods. However,it was important we remembered how to brought more than one camera with us when filming. This was essential as it helped us get different shot, also, if one was to run out we still had the other.
We also had to remember to import our work from the camera to the mac computer straight away so that we didnt loose any work if other students were to use the camera.

Imovie- Imovie was a very essential part to our music video as it was needed to put everything in order, make any lighting changes, change it to black and white and lip sync it.

Photoshop- Mary and I found Photoshop the most challenging part. We had to use it when creating our digipak. We used it to polish and perfect our pictures, and to add any text needed.

Question 4 
what have you learnt from your audience feedback?

By Leah Gathergood

Final Product

Final product

Here is my final music video product, i have included the digi-pak and advertisement.



Here is the magazine advert for the track and music video of Beyonce - diva.

Magazine advertisment research

Rihanna magazine advertisement 

We looked at Rihanna's album advertisement. The advertisement focus's on the colour red, which matches Rihanna's hair colour and also connotes sex appeal, which is part of her star motif. The advertisement also includes her name, album name and cover of the album and the date of when it comes out. The background also shows a shot from a video of one of the songs on her album. 

Katy Perry advertisement 

When looking at Katy Perry's advertisement we noticed there was many similarities to Rihanna's. For example, it also has a background of Katy Perry and a small picture of the album cover on top. This is something we will consider when creating out advertisement. 

Also, It is written clearly when the album is out, which is important to the reader. 

Katy Perry has used a bright colour theme that matches her quirky persona. There is also a mention of the most popular song on the album, which is a good idea as it may make it more appealing to buy. 

Conventions

Conventions

Conventions are the widely recognised way of doing something, therefore in media this has to do with content style and form, for example the conventions of a music video the artist would look as if they are singing in the song (lip syncing).

Conventions matter in the creation of our music video as they are the aspect that keep the music video conforming to the music video representation, without typical codes and conventions the video wouldnt conform to typicall 'music video' stenotypes such as dancing and poseing.

conventions could consist of things such as Laura Mulveys - Male gaze - An analysis of media images which suggests that the camera represents a male perspective, and such as casts men as active subjects and women as passive objects.

An example of the male gaze is in the J'adore Dior advert. Below are screen shots of the male gaze.

Shot of a female models bottom area, this is in the view of the male gaze.

Shot of a woman getting her blouse done up, this is also in the view of the male gaze.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             






What effect does this have on the viewers?

When the camera slows down and many even stops on a woman a woman curves, it imitates how a man would look at a woman therefor the denotation of woman this way on  screen portrays how women are seen as sexual objects in society.

The male gaze is very conventional in adverts and music videos. We won't be using the male gaze in our music video as we want to subvert this stereotype and embrace the powerful women that we are.

Final product

Final music video product

This is our final music video product.
This is a music video to the song Diva by Beyonce
The music video is 3:26

Health and safety risk assessment

Health and safety risk assessment

This is a risk assessment that we have conducted before we begin to film our media music video.
Making a risk assessment helps us identify the risks and dangers of our filming task and how to deal with them if they do happen.

Costume list

Costume list

Our costume for the main character must relate to the sexy representation of the main character so we have chosen sexy and girly clothes.

The main character will be wearing a sparkly black dress, a plain but sexy black dress and in some scene a sparkly dress, the dresses will be worn with a pair of black boot heel shoes.

final treatment

Final Treatment

Song: Diva
Artist: Beyonce

My final treatment is the main idea for the music video after all target audience research and music video research has been conducted, it differs from my draft final production as it has been amended with evaluations from peers to create a better response and production.


Pad-let Response

I used padlet.com to receive some feedback on my treatment for my music video, pad let make it possible for people to view my draft treatment and leave some constructive criticisms for me to improve my work with.

After looking at the comments I have learnt that the narrative and the relation of the story to the song will work well with visuals and lyrics. more attention to the characteristics may need to be addressed as well as more detail into the subplot for example showing how the 'Diva' has influenced and empowered the girl who looks up to her.
The shots will be full of quick cut and there will be many scene and dress changes.
We will include girls and boys in the music video.

Outline of ideas for music video (narrative, Characteristics, concept...)

A narrative for our music video would be based around a woman who is the 'Diva' she is classed as a diva as she is present, powerful and confident - her presence and attitude draws attention and admiration to her, people know she is a Diva from the way she behaves and responds to attention.
She will arrive at a party and the whole crowd will follow in suit as they admire the Diva. There will be quick cuts to show the different dance scenes and dress scenes of people following her, greeting her and admiring her, close ups of peoples faces will show that they are in awe of her.
There will be a intra-narrative of another young woman who is less beautiful, confident and stylish, this will be shown through her actions and facial expressions this girl is being put down and bullied by other girls at the party that make her feel inferior and less confident; she is portrayed as stressed, upset and lonely. The young girl spots the diva and the diva empowers her to feel more confident the girl becomes beautiful,smiley and confident joining the diva as the centre of attention. The crowd around notice her and are all in awe of her and the Diva, they begin to dance in synchronisation and have a good time. The mean girls that were bullying her leave the party upset.

Resources that will be needed? (actors, setting, props etc.)

We will need approximately 15 and 20 people/actors this includes the main characters.
The setting will be among a house party, there will be clips of the street and shots of the area/background.
Props will mainly be a part of the setting e.g.. bottles of alcohol, cups and music players, disco lights etc.
Some technical resources we will need to use are iMovie and a video camera, tripod and memory card.

Justification of ideas relating to the artist, genre and audience questionnaire and focus group

We will be creating our music video in this format as we are relating to the star motifs of Beyonce. Particular dance routines and moves will be used that are related to Beyonce's style and the persona she has manifested for herself.
Furthermore we will be reflecting her persona in the style of dress and Mise - En - Scene we choose to use this shows that we are using codes and conventions of the genre but adding our own elements.
We will be relating to the lyrics throughout the video as they have a close relation to the narrative of our song and they are constantly repeating the word 'Diva'.

Equipment list

Equipment list

The equipment i will be using in my production will play an important part in the creation of my musiv video. Each item of equipment will play an important and specific role int he final production this music video, the list is stated below:

• Digital camera (video camera) - This will be used to film and record the music video footage as well as take still images of the video for us to use in the divi pack and magazine advertising.
• Tripod - This will be use to hold the camera still during the filming process, it will also help for nessicary camera pans and tilts.
• Camera lights -  so the shots are bright and clear
• Light reflector -  control the reflection of the lights
• Memory card -  to save the work and upload footage
• USB wire - to upload the footage
• Apple Mac Computer - Editing
• Costumes - party clothes, dresses, trousers and t-shirts
• Props - Bottles, lights,  cups, drinks.
• Studio/hall/house (setting)

Six Frame Analysis

Six frame Analysis 
Rihanna 'Pour it up'

1. This is a conventional shot of rihanna posing in the forefront of the screen she is taking off her fur jacket and sitting down on a chair.
Her minimal clothing reflects her star motif 'Rihanna' is always seen in her videos wearing extremely provocative clothing and embracing very sexual dance moves. this still frame is a shot from the very beginning of the song it is presenting the artist and is subliminally foreshadowing the sexuallity of her video.
Rihanna is singing "throw it up throw it up, thats how we ball out" this could relate to the images on the screen as she is looking very expensive and appears to be sitting on a thrown something a wealthy person would do. The term "ball out" refers to one being a "baller" a baller in slang terms is a professional money maker who is extremely wealthy due to any means of money making, so in this still image she clearly refers to herself as a baller.

2. This second image of the singer Rihanna staring in her video 'pour it up' she is seen slouching in her 'Thrown' with her hand and arm between her legs, there is a pole dancer in the background who is positioned upside down on the pole. Rihanna is known for the explicit content in her videos and lyrics and this refers to her star motif (what the pubic/ audience expect and know of her)
In this section of her video she is singing the lyrics "All i see is signs.All i see is dollar signs"
this refers to how much money she is make which she try's to portray in her video with the money, the thrown the expensive clothes, strippers and pole dancers.
Rihanna appears extremely sexual in this clip and this is because she wants men to leer over her. the objective of the video also appears to be extremely sexualised and raunchy, Rihanna appears to be achieving her aim.

3. This image of Rihanna is part of the singers iconography, Rihanna is a provocative artist and takes pride in showing off her body and sexualising her appearance. the two fingers up can represent the symbol of peace and can also be an offensive symbol (swearing).

The preferred reading of Rihanna in this clip is to appeal to men and represent women she wants men to see that she is sexy, rich and shares a common ground.

The lyric she is singing is "throw it, throw it up watch it fallout from the sky" she is showing throwing movements with her hand as well as the representing symbols she portrays the basis of her video and what she is singing about.

4. this is a shot of artist Rihanna on a pole doing some pole dancing. She is wearing little clothing this is to show her body confidence and for the male gaze of her male fan base she is wearing a boys hat showing she's relating the men and even copying there style she is dancing very provocatively around this pole and there are many quick cuts of the dance scene. The scene is showing Rihanna sex appeal and it is in relation to the lyrics "My fragrance on and they love my smell" so the clip id just of her and she is promoting her perfume range in her song this is product placement and star motifs.

5. this image is of Rihanna licking and throwing money this shows her power and wealth and shows she is so rich that she can throw money away.

The licking motion portrays something else this is a sexual movement and appeals to the male audience "thats how we ball out" so she is referencing other people. She appears to be siting on a golden thrown which shows her female status and wealth.

her sexual clothing is her iconography and Rihanna is known for her sexually explicit nature so she is reinforcing her label and status throughout this video.

6. This is again reinforcing her iconography as sexual and explicit, as she dances provocatively on her golden thrown. she has her back to the camera but is looking over her shoulder, as she shakes her bottom she is looking for men appreciation as she re in acts sexual acts. Rihanna is playing the part of a stripper/ pole dancer in this video as there is lots of money and sexually explicit content.
her lyrics read "Money on my mind, money,money on my mind" so in conclusion her stripper reference in this video is her trying to get money using her body - representing a group in society that aren't seen as good, it seems to be that Rihanna is rebelling for attention.

Draft treatment and padlet responses

Draft Treatment

Song: Diva
Artist: Beyonce

Outline of ideas for music video (narrative, Characteristics, concept...)

A narrative for our music video would be based around a woman who is the 'Diva' she is classed as a diva as she is present, powerful and confident - her presence and attitude draws attention and admiration to her.
She will arrive at a party and the whole crowd will follow in suit as they admire the Diva. There will be quick cuts to show the different dance scenes and dress scenes.
there will be a intra-narrative of another young woman who is less beautiful, confident and stylish who will have envious and jealous feelings towards her, this will be shown through her actions and facial expressions. The young girl spots the diva and the diva empowers her to feel more confident the girl becomes beautiful,smiley and confident joining the diva as the centre of attention. The crowd around notice her and are all in awe of her and the Diva, they begin to dance in synchronisation and have a good time.

Resources that will be needed? (actors, setting, props etc.)

We will need approximately 15 and 20 people/actors this includes the main characters.
The setting will be among a house party, there will be clips of the street and shots of the area/background.
Props will mainly be a part of the setting e.g.. bottles of alcohol, cups and music players, disco lights etc.
Some technical resources we will need to use are iMovie and a video camera.

Justification of ideas relating to the artist, genre and audience questionnaire and focus group

We will be creating our music video in this format as we are relating to the star motifs of Beyonce. particular dance routines and moves will be used that are related to Beyonce's style and the persona she has manifested for herself.
Furthermore we will be reflecting her persona in the style of dress and Mise - En - Scene we choose to use this shows that we are using codes and conventions of the genre but adding our own elements.
We will be relating to the lryics throughout the video as they have a close relation to the narrative of our song and they are constantly repeating the word 'Diva'.

Pad-let Response

I used padlet.com to receive some feedback on my treatment for my music video, pad let make it possible for people to view my draft treatment and leave some constructive criticisms for me to improve my work with.

After looking at the comments I have learnt that the narrative and the relation of the story to the song will work well with visuals and lyrics. more attention to the characteristics may need to be addressed as well as more detail into the subplot for example showing how the 'Diva' has influenced and empowered the girl who looks up to her.
The shots will be full of quick cut and there will be many scene and dress changes.
WE will include girls and boys in the music video.

Created with Padlet

Focus Group interview

Focus Group

During the research and production of our music video, we had to research a focus group so we could finalise the audience pleasures and suggestions for our video.

After researching our target audience out surveys found that the majority of people who answerd were female, Ages ranged between 16 and 18 so we conducted our focus group interview to represent these demographics.
Firstly the focus group said they associated the word 'Diva' with someone who's is feisty, brave and confident this is key information and we took this on board and will create the main character of our video to fit this description.
Our survey results showed that the majority of people preferred a music video which followed a narrative with incorporated factors of a 'party' theme, we asked our focus to help expand on theses ideas and they said the main character should arrive to a party being the centre of attention 'all eyes on her'. This idea can be expanded further to create another narrative of a girl who is already at the party becoming jealous and angry that the attention is not on her anymore.
The focus group stated that they would prefer a free style dance routine but with some small added group choreography to show the coming together of the people therefore the incorporation of both dance styles will be put into our video.
Finally, we asked the focus group what they would like to see in this music video. Our response was the costume, they didn't want to see any ultra revealing garments or badly styled clothes, we will be aware of this in the production of our video and make sure she is modern and well dressed.

Music survey analysis

Music survey analysis

Our questionnaire was conducted using survey monkey (www.surveymonkey.com/s/V9JK2GX)
After revising the results found from our questionnaire we analysed them and have found ways in which to incorporate them into our final music video production.
The analysis of the production helps us understand what we need to look at in detail for the production to work.



Impact on our work

The biggest impacts on our work will be the age range as we need to base the conventions of the video around the4 target audience.
Also the theme of the music video will play a big part in the production of our film as the music video will be based on the audiences preferred theme.
finally the song choice will create a big impact on our work as it plays the most vital role as to what the target audience research preferred.

Audience Questionnaire (music video)

Audience Questionnaire

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/V9JK2GX

Questionnaire analysis

After analysing through the questionnaire results i have found that the main target gender for the music video are females and so have aimed the video at the female audience, a small percentage were male.
The most common age range ranges between 17 and 19 years old and so the video has been targeted at this age criteria.
According to the results of the questionnaire the style of music video preferred is a narrative so this will be the main theme and structure of the video. Furthermore, the preferred theme in music videos is a party style scene so the theme will be based around this.
People who took our survey have been asked to define the singer of the song 'Diva' who is Beyonce in three words, they depicted her as having good style, a strong powerful woman and inspirational.
We have chosen to use the song 'Diva' in our video as most of the questionnaire audience preferred that song.
Our survey audience were asked what they think makes Beyonce stand out as an artist, they say it is her dancing ability so this will play a big part in our video production.

Audience Theory

Audience theory

In class we explored two theories as to why audience's watch and enjoy media. 

One of the theories was the 'Effects model' also known as the 'hypodermic model', this theory was created in 1997 by Hoynes Croteau and is based around creating a strong influence or effect on the viewers. As they watch a scene or music video they feel connected consciously, this means that the media they are watching they beginning to take pleasure from and almost develop an addictive state towards it, this is why it is called 'hypodermic', like a needle or drug, causes an addiction and a relapse; your daily dose of television!

This Effects model can be applied to music videos as they are very engaging, they engage your senses of sight and hearing, so consequentially connect with the mind, causing people to feel like they should mimic  and react to what happens in the video, an example of this it the 'Bo Bo doll experiment' during this experiment they applied the effects of what children saw on the television to how they reacted in reality amongst the same situation, the results were astonishing and the experiment a success, children clearly copied exactly what they saw on television. Music videos can also be mimicked in many other ways such as the fashion style and the dance moves, creating a huge amount of reality in what people have seen as they begin to identify with the mind.

    Another theory I explored in class as to why audience's take interest in different types of media is Uses and Gratification, this theory was developed in 1974 by Blumler and Katz.  I watched the music video by chase and status called 'Time' which is embedded below. I felt that 'uses and gratification' could easily be applied o this video because viewers were given a sense of having there needs and desires met, for example, information the audience were give the chance to find out about new events from the video, seek some advice and satisfy there security of knowledge about the issue raised in the video, it addressed the subject of domestic violence and later gave a help line at the end for anyone suffering from the same thing they had seen. further more it gave audience the feel of personal identity, helping the audience to be re enforce of personal values and find models of behaviour (role models). Social interaction is used to help find a basis of conversation, so the audience all have something they can discuss and debate, this interaction give the audience a sense of belonging and a connection with the people they are with. Finally entertainment, this is usually the main focus of things such as music videos n television channels, this helps the audience to fill time, experience some cultural enjoyment and relax connoting in the needs and desires of the individual being met.

In class we explored these two theories about audiences and there consumption of media and my understanding of them is that they fulfil needs and desires of the audience by meeting pleasures. This type of pleasure applies to music videos As they hold a strong basis for all of these things to be put into place . Music Videos are a perfect opportunity to spread the word about something or create an impact on an audience.
In class we then had to independently identify our own choice of music video and apply these two theories to it, I chose the music video 'So good to me' by Chris Malinchak, the narrative of this video is about a girl and her unusual  best friend, the young girl cannot find her friend for a while but when they are reunited it portrays a sense of happiness and love. The two theories relate to this video as they would appeal to someone looking for that type of entertainment. Uses and Gratification are used as information is incorporated the finding of the giraffe satisfied the audiences curiosity. Personal identity came through by the pure fact that a young girl is best friends with a wild animal, this reinforced personal values and could even provoke the gaining of insight into ones self. furthermore, social interaction would come into the analysis of this video as it creates conversation, the unusual partnership and pleasant viewing will connote the audience emotional reaction to what they see consequentially creating conversation.
lastly, entertainment is met as people are being diverted from there own problems and shown another persons this can be a form of gratification for the Audience or just some escapism.

Introduction to A2 Media (music video)

Introduction

Candidate number 3168
Centre number 12950

My name is Mary Thompson, I am currently studying A2 level media studies in year 13 at Swakeleys six form.
I have been studying media since year 11 as I find it very interesting and enjoy the hands on practical approach to learning the subject.
At the end of the year I am hoping to achieve an A.
My advanced portfolio will be about completing a conventional music video, digi-pak and magazine insert for the digi-pak. Throughout this blog i will state the processes i have done in order to complete the project and my research will be stated and analised.
The other member of my grip is Leah Gathergood (http://leahgathergood.blogspot.co.uk/) she will be working with me to complete the music video project.